9.03.2011

Stuffed Again!

My most recent
farmers market find is the Jimmy Nardello sweet Italian frying pepper. I
have never tasted a pepper this sweet in my life and am now hooked.

Should you want
to grown your own, seeds for the Jimmy Nardello pepper are readily available
online at Burpee's and other seed catalogs and I think I will be growing them myself next year along with my Scotch
bonnets, Thai peppers and native chiltepin peppers. I have never before had the
urge to grow a sweet pepper! (Let's be honest, Mark will grow the peppers for
me, and he will benefit from all the culinary wonders they/I provide for him!)

When the woman
at the vegetable stall asked what I was going to do with them, my first thought
was to stuff them and serve them as an appetizer or first course. "Well,
what exactly will you stuff them with?" Feeling a bit on the spot, I
responded, "Cheese and herbs, of course!"

And that is
pretty much what I did! Like many of my recipes, this one started with,
"What's in the fridge today?" Greek yogurt (nonfat - from recent a
recent Indian meal), Parmigiana-Reggiano and pecorino Romano (refrigerator
standards), egg whites (leftover from some cake or other that I baked earlier
in the week), a paprika/cayenne blend (from some Thai cooking on Thursday) and
Greek oregano from Mark's garden.

When you have a
great list of ingredients to start a recipe - about half Italian and half Greek
– how can you go wrong? In my
mind, Italian + Greek = Amazing!

I was
especially pleased, when considering these ingredients, with the low-fat aspect
of the recipe-to-come. The entire recipe has very few calories and yet
they are really filling. Oh, and they are delicious!

Heat a gas
grill or preheat broiler. Cook peppers for about 1 minute per side to soften
and slightly char. Let cool.

While the
peppers are cooling, mix all remaining ingredients well and put into a re-sealable
Ziploc storage bag. Chill until ready to stuff.

Using sharp
kitchen shears, very carefully slit the peppers from top to bottom. Again using
the shears, cut the top seed cluster from the stem and then gently using your
fingers, pull out the seeds and large ribs, being careful not to rip the
peppers. Place gutted peppers on a baking sheet.

Cut a 3/16-inch
corner off one side of the bag and use it as a pastry bag to pipe the filling
into the peppers.

Preheat broiler
to high. Place stuffed peppers under the broiler for 6 minutes or until
bubbling and browning in spots.